Redemption
by Ava Lux
Summary: After buffy's death, an evil Spike and Drusilla plan on ending the world, and Angel Investigations comes to Sunnydale to help stop them. but what they didn't expect was that some of them won't live to see the end of the battle. Updated
1. Prolouge

Title: Redemption

A bit 'a back story:

It's 2010. (The story takes place in an alternate timeline, after the events of The Gift and Welcome to Pltz Grb)

Angel Investigations is going strong, with a crew of Angel, Cordy, Gunn and Wes; along with relative newcomers Fred, Lorne, Faith, and Elena.

Over in Sunnydale…

Buffy's been dead for about 10 years now, after jumping into the portal Glory created with Dawn's blood. The remaining Scoobs (Willow, Xander, Dawn, Tara, Anya, and Giles) have continued to fight the collective forces of evil without her presence…well, most of the Scoobs.

Dru returned about a year after Buffy died, with a way to get the chip out of Spike's head. Without the Slayer to keep him grounded, he's gone back to the dark side, and along with Drusilla is back to being the driving force of bad-ness on the Hellmouth.

Summary: Spike and Dru have plans to open the Hellmouth and release hellfire-y badness with a side of an apocalypse on the unknowing residents of Sunnydale. Willow, afraid the Slayerettes have gotten in over their heads, calls Angel for backup.

A/N:Everything in Italics are flashbacks-I jump around a lot, so bear with me. The rest of the story, in the regular font, is what's taking place in present day (May 2010).

Prologue

_ b i Los Angeles, 2002 /b _

"_You were not doing fine!" Gunn yelled as he fought._

"_That's what you-ooof." Her protest was cut off as a vampire hit her hard in the stomach._

_Cordelia had had a vision of a woman fighting vampires in an abandoned warehouse, and loosing. The weird thing about all this was, this was the third vision Cordy had had of this particular girl. Each time, they had gone and saved her from the fate Cordelia had seen. But this woman didn't exactly appreciate the help. _

"_Look, whats-your-name-"_

"_Gunn-"_

_  
"Gunn, this is the 21st century. The man doesn't always have to save the day. I can take care of myself. So stop trying to save me!"_

"_The odds here? Were 20 to 1. Not in your favor."_

"_Hey!" Wesley called from across the room. "Fight after we're finished here! Right now, concentrate on the vampires trying to kill us all!"_

_Her response was delayed as she staked a vampire, but she made time in between attacks to send a scathing look Gunn's way._

"_Then it's good I have this in my favor…"_

_  
She stood perfectly still, staring at a vamp that was coming towards her. She held her hands out in front of her and violently pushed them out, away from her body. The vampire was sent flying into a piece of wood that jutted out of the wall of the warehouse._

_Wesley stared, openmouthed. "You never mentioned you were telekinetic."_

_  
"You never asked. Behind you!" She sent the vampire that was coming up behind him flying to the floor, giving Wesley the opportunity to stake it._

_They had gotten rid of almost all the vampires in the warehouse when a door rolled back and more streamed in._

"_Oh, man…" Gunn said angrily. "We can't take them all!"_

_  
"No shit, Sherlock." She sighed and pushed a loose strand of hair out of her eyes. _

"_Ok, I have a plan. On the count of three, start staking every vampire that freezes in place."_

"_What?" Wesley asked, confused.  
_

"_Don't argue with me. Just do it. One…two…three!" _

_She held both her hands out in different directions. On each side of her, by Wesley and Gunn, a vampire stopped moving as if a force field had surrounded it. Without asking questions, they both killed the vampires. As soon as the dust settled, she'd stopped another two in their tracks._

_After what seemed like forever, Gunn and Wesley finished off the last few vamps, and they both went over to the witch. _

"_I'd say that was a job well done." Wesley said, brushing dust off his clothes._

"_Yep. Now I'm outta here." She said._

_  
"Can you at least tell us your name?" Gunn asked as she turned to walk away._

_  
"Elena." _

_ b Sunnydale, California, 2004 /b _

_Dawn walked into the Southern California home she used to share with her mother and older sister. Her sister's friends had moved in after Joyce Summers' death in 2000 and Buffy's the following year. _

_1630 Revello Drive was now HQ for the Slayerettes._

_  
"Hello?" She called. It was weirdly quiet…someone was almost always home. "Willow? Spike? Xander?"_

"_In here, Nibblet." Spike's voice floated out of the kitchen. _

_  
Dawn set her backpack down by the door and went into the kitchen. Spike was standing in a corner, partially hidden in the shadows.  
"Spike? Are you ok?"_

_  
"What? Oh, yea, I'm fine, Pet. Actually, I'm great."_

_There was something wrong about his voice…Dawn couldn't place it, but it scared her. She slowly stepped back through the entryway and into the hall. "Are you the only one home?" She asked him, as she backed up towards the front door. _

"_No." A high-pitched, English accented voice said from her left. Dawn jumped and turned around to see Drusilla coming out of the dining room._

"_It hums, Spike…it sings to me. Beautiful, pure energy, singing…"She moved closer to the former Key, swaying slightly and moving her hands back and forth in front of her face._

_Dawn ran into the living room, trying to put as much space between herself and the crazy vampire as possible. She was far from helpless, but she wasn't stupid enough to try to take on Drusilla without a weapon._

'_If I could get to the weapons chest…' She thought desperately…but there was no way. Drusilla was already in between her and the stash of weapons._

"_Spike!" She screamed, but she had a sinking feeling he wouldn't be helping her._

"_Sorry luv, I really am. But Dru's hungry."_

_The vampire in question laughed and clicked her fingernails together, still advancing on Dawn. But having a Slayer as a big sister hadn't totally gone to waste, and she started to form a plan._

_Without warning, Dawn threw herself past Drusilla and to the front door. She had her hand on the doorknob and had even managed to fling it open, but she felt something grab her ankle._

"_No, no, we can't have any of that..."_

_Dawn screamed again as Drusilla pulled her back into the house. _

_Xander came home from his job at the construction site and tested the doorknob. _

_Unlocked. _

_He figured that Dawn had come home early from her visit to her friend's house...but he realized things were quite different when he got inside._

_Not far from the entryway, Dawn lay unconscious, with Drusilla hunched over her. He didn't really register what he was doing; he just sort of threw himself towards Dru and knocked her off Dawn. They rolled into the living room, kicking and throwing punches at each other but rarely landing any. _

_Finding a suitable weapon wasn't nearly as much of a problem for Xander. He grabbed a small side table and smashed in into the floor, sending shards of wood everywhere. He picked up one of the legs, which had shattered into a perfect stake. He held it over Dru's heart, about to kill her, when someone came up behind him and picked him up by the back of the shirt._

"_Hey now. None of that." Spike sounded almost bored as he dropped Xander back onto the ground. "We'll be going now, seems me and Dru have worn out our welcome." He helped his scary demon girlfriend to her feet, and they exited out the door into the growing twilight._

_Xander almost went after them, but he realized Dawn was still unconscious. He ran over to her and took her pulse._

'_Strong. Thank God.'_

"_Dawn? Dawnie, can you hear me?" It took a few seconds, but she came around. _

_  
"Xander? What happened?" She asked faintly, her hand moving to her neck that Xander had just finishing bandaging. _

"_I'm not really sure. Don't touch your neck, I don't want the bandage to move." _

"_Spike…he's…"_

"_Yea, I know. Evil. Or doing a really good evil impersonation."_

b _Los Angeles, a few hours later. /b _

"_Hi, you've reached Angel Investigations. We're not here right now, but if you're hopeless, we're here to help."_

_  
"For a reasonable fee."_

_  
"Cordelia! Will you just stop that? We do NOT charge the helpless! Anyway, leave a message after the beep and one of our associates will get back to you as soon as possible."_

"_I'm just trying to make us some money…"_

"_Cordelia…"_

"_Ok, fine, I'm done."_

_Willow laughed at Angel's answering machine message. _

_Sounded like the same old Cordelia…. _

_the machine beeped, and she started to talk._

"_Hey guys, it's Willow. I figured I should give you the update, seeing as how well Angel and Spike get along…he's seemed to have crossed over to the side of badness-Spike, not Angel...at least, not that I know of…_

_Angel's not evil, right? Ok, not the point, sorry. So, Evil-Spike attacked Dawnie, and then he and Dru…yea, Dru, she's back too. How big an un-fun is that? Anyway, we think they skipped town and, might come after you. So keep your eyes open, ok Angel? If you need to talk to me, I'm staying at Buf-Dawn's. I'm staying at Dawn's. Bye…"  
_

_Cordelia opened the double doors to the hotel just as the machine clicked off._

"_What, no one's here to answer the phone? I find that seriously hard to believe." She called to the empty hotel._

_Elena walked in after her, carrying shopping bags, like Cordy. Angel came down the stairs as the girls made their way to the offices._

"_No again! If you two keep it up, we're going to go bankrupt."_

_  
"Sorry, Angel, but we have a shopping problem. We know it, you know it, get over it." Elena stated mater-of-factly. _

"_Besides…not all of it's shoes." She pulled a small bag out of her purse, along with another bag that had books and herbs in it. _

"_I needed to restock." _

_Angel sighed…he didn't argue with their resident Wiccan. She'd gotten them out of more scrapes than he'd care to count. And besides…her power of telekinesis was helpful to have around._

'_And really cool.' He thought as she floated the bottles and volumes behind the desk._

"_Shh, I wanna hear the messages." Cordy said. She pressed the 'play' button on the answering machine, and Willow's voice filled the lobby._

"_Hey guys, it's Willow. I figured I should give you the update, seeing as how well Angel and Spike get along…"_

"_I hope that's sarcasm…" Angel muttered._

"…_he's seemed to have crossed over to the side of badness-Spike, not Angel...at least, not that I know of…Angel's not evil, right?"_

"_Why does everyone always think that?" Angel asked. _

_Cordy smacked his arm as the message continued._

"…_. So um Evil-Spike attacked Dawnie, and then he and Dru…yea, Dru, she's back too. How big an un-fun is that? Anyway, we think they skipped town and, might come after you So keep your eyes open, ok Angel? If you need to talk to me, I'm staying at Buf-Dawn's. I'm staying at Dawn's. Bye…"_

_Cordelia and Angel stood in stunned silence. Elena just looked perplexed._

"_Who's Spike? And who's Dru? And I'm really confused…"She murmured, breaking her concentration and dropping a heavy looking book she'd been moving towards the desk onto the floor._

"_Elle, do I have a story for you…" Cordy said. "Sit down, this could take a while."_

_Still in LA, a few hours later._

"…_. Jesus. Ya'll sure had interesting lives before I met you." Elena said._

"_Tell me about it." Cordelia sighed. "I think I covered everything." _

_Fred, Lorne, Wesley, and Gunn had come in to listen to Cordy's little trip down memory lane. Angel, having heard it-and lived it-all before didn't feel that it was necessary to pay attention, and had wandered away into his office, supposedly to close a case file. But everyone there knew he wanted to brood about Buffy, and they left him alone._

_Except for Cordelia, who didn't really care. _

"_You guys keep yourselves amused, I'll be back in a minute." She got up from her seat and went into Angel's office, closing the door quietly behind her._

"_Was that such a good idea?" Fred asked nervously._

"_I wouldn't worry, cupcake." Lorne said, patting her on the shoulder. "If anyone can handle Angel when he's in a 'mood', its our little Vision Girl."_

"_Go away." Angel said sourly, without turning around. _

_Cordelia, realizing this was going to take longer than she had thought, sighed and sat down on the edge of his desk._

"_Oh. Cordy." He said, sounding a little less cranky. "What's the matter?"_

_  
"Other than the fact that you've locked yourself in here so you can think about her?" She said, not having to name the 'her' in question._

_Angel looked down at his hands. "I wasn't. Thinking. I mean, I was thinking. But not about that."_

_  
Cordelia rolled her eyes. "Right. Ok then. Want some company?"_

_  
He didn't answer, so she got up and started to walk away. Just as she put her hand on the doorknob, he looked up. "Company's always nice."_

b _Outside the Hyperion…. /b _

_Spike sat inside a rental-ok, stolen- car with Drusilla in the passenger seat. _

"_I know he's here…I can smell him. Daddy's home…" She giggled to herself. Spike didn't bother to respond as he kept his eyes locked on the hotel in front of them._

"_So Peaches is home then? Do you know who else is inside?" He asked her._

_Dru's eyes cleared for a rare moment as she glared at the bleached blonde vampire. "No, of course not."_

'_Of course not…' He thought, shaking his head. 'What a bloody nut.' Spike kept his thoughts to himself, though. No one wanted to piss off Drusilla._

"_Can we go play?" She asked, barely able to contain her excitement._

"_Soon, love. Soon." /i _


	2. Chapter 1

Los Angeles, 2010

Faith tapped her foot impatiently as they finishing shuffling her papers around. Finally, one of the officers turned to her.

"Ok, your papers are all in order. Looks like you can go."

She grinned and turned to step through the door. "Thanks ya'll, this was a blast. But I gotta motor. Hope I never see you again!"

"Same to you." A guard muttered as the Slayer stepped out of the compound and into the parking lot.

Faith looked around for Wesley. Since it was the middle of the day, Angel couldn't exactly come and pick her up, and she and Wes were actually on speaking terms again.

She saw him, leaning against his car, and she went over to him.

"Hello, Faith. How's my favorite inmate?" He asked pleasantly.

" Ex-inmate." She corrected, sliding into the passenger seat.

"Of course, silly me." He got in and started the car.

As they drove back to the Hyperion, they talked on and off. But different members of the team had been routinely visiting her for years, and there wasn't a lot to get caught up on. Even Cordelia had started showing up last year, much to Faith's surprise. They got to the hotel and Wesley grabbed Faith's bag while she checked out the outside of the building.

"This whole thing yours?"

"Angel's. But yes, it is."

"Damn. You guys are really making some serious dough."

"Well, true…but helping the hopeless is more important."

They went inside. Cordy was sitting behind her desk, mumbling. Every once and a while she'd smack the computer.

"If you're nice to it, Cor, it might listen ta you." Faith drawled as she stepped into the lobby.

"Faith! You're back!" She smiled and jumped up from her seat.

At the sound of Cordelia's yell, Angel came running down the steps. He went to Faith and embraced her.

"Hey, Angel. Glad to see me?" She laughed as the vampire sheepishly put her back on the ground.

"It's good to have you back, Faith." Angel smiled.

"Glad to be back. Ok, I'm gonna have parole officers on my ass for the next 50 years, but at least I'm not in the big house."

Fred and Gunn came down the stairs from the second floor of the lobby. "Hey guys. What's all the hubbub?" Fred asked. She saw Faith, and put two and two together.

"You must be Faith." She said, walking up to the Slayer and shaking her hand.

"Yup. Guilty as charged."

Fred looked at her, confused. Then she laughed nervously. "Oh, I get it…prison humor. Funny."

Sunnydale, 2010

"Summers, Dawn."

As the dean of students called her name, Dawn stood up and grinned. She walked across the stage and accepted her diploma. She could hear everyone cheering for her in the seats below, and she just smiled bigger.

After the ceremony was finished, she ran down to meet everyone. She got hugs from all of her extended family: Willow, Xander, Tara, Anya, and Giles. The former librarian kissed the top of her head, his eyes shining.

"I'm so proud of you, Dawn. And I know they are too." His and Dawn's eyes both misted over at the mention of the two deceased Summers.

"I hope…" She said softly. "If you're watching, Mom, look…I kicked ass at something Buffy never even finished." Dawn joked towards the sky.

Xander noticed that Dawn's happy moment was quickly turning sad, so he did what he did best: cheered everyone up.

"Hey, who wants celebratory pizza?" He asked, throwing an affectionate arm over Dawn's shoulders.

They all laughed and started to walk out of the auditorium. Tara, who was in the back of the group with Willow, saw something out of the corner of her eye. She turned around just in time to catch a glimpse of a bleached blonde head, before the owner of said head was lost in the crowd.

'It couldn't be. Its not.' She thought decisively.

Spike saw Tara look back at him, and he purposefully fell backwards and out of her line of vision. "Bloody hell, that was close." He said to Dru, taking her hand to make sure she wasn't lost in the crowd. "Tell me why we're here again?"

"It's-"

"Humming and singing to you. I know, luv. But a lot of things hum and sing to you. Can't you be a little more specific?"

She pouted, and he instantly felt bad for snapping at her. But coming back to Scooby-central wasn't something he had been keen on in the first place.

"The chest of toys is about to open, spewing lots and lots of goodies for good little boys and girls…"

She had been saying this for a month now, and he had finally figured out what she'd meant. The Hellmouth, under the old high school, was going to be opened…again.

"Dru, you know I'm not one for an apocalypse." He warned her.

He knew why she'd wanted to come back, but he had never fancied ending the world. He'd said it best to the slayer a long time ago…something to do with happy meals with legs. Spike couldn't really remember; he'd been pretty drunk at the time.

"This one will come no matter what. Don't you want to be in on the fun?" She asked, giggling.

"Bloody hell. Do I even have a choice?" He asked, sighing, as they following the crowd out of the auditorium and into the night.

1630 Revello Drive-later that night.

" What do you think?" Tara asked Willow. They were sitting at the kitchen table, discussing Tara's plans for the week ahead.

"It's a great idea, sweetie!" Willow smiled. "You and Anya need to get to know each other better…being the newer Slayerettes and all." She said to Tara and Anya's plan of going to Washington DC for a week of sightseeing. Still, it was kind of odd. But Willow wanted to be a good, supportive girlfriend.

"Yea…we figured, since you and Xander and Mr. Giles are all so close, we would try to be better friends, too." Tara said. "And Anya wants to learn more about our 'system of government'…it'll definitely be an interesting trip."

"It'll be fun! Take lots of pictures for us back here in boring old Sunnydale." Willow stood up form the table and pushed her chair in, moving to the counter to put her mug of tea in the sink. "When are you guys going to leave?"

"On Monday. She's just running the idea past Xander now. We have tomorrow to pack, and then we'll be gone until next Monday."

"Really? You and Tara?" Xander asked Anya, as she told him the same thing Tara and Willow had just discussed.

"Yes. You all have this tiny, tight circle. We want to have friends inside the circle. Close friends, like you all are. So we're going to be friends." Anya stated matter-of-factly.

"Ok, sounds like a plan." Xander said, kind of confused. But that was nothing new for him, especially where his fiancé was concerned. "…But why Washington?"

"Your government confuses me. I've been asking you to take me, but big shot Business Man doesn't have any time for extra trips." She pointed out. "So Tara can explain to me all the things I still don't understand…like why the leader has to live in a white house…why not blue?"

Xander smiled and ruffled her hair. "Whatever you say, honey."

Monday night

It had been a few hours since they had seen Tara and Anya off at the airport. Xander and Willow were at the house, sitting on the couch and watching a movie. The front door opened, and Dawn and Giles walked through.

Willow moved a bowl of popcorn off her lap and went over to them. "Hey guys. How was Restfield?"

Dawn looked shaken, and Giles looked like he wanted to find the nearest book to start research.

"Guys?" Willow asked again. "What's the matter?"


	3. Chapter 2

i Spain, 2 weeks earlier /i 

"Dru, I'm begging you, let's not do this." Spike pleaded carefully with her.

"No!" She shouted, throwing a vase at Spike's head.

He ducked, but shards of the pottery cut the back of his head and neck when it shattered into the wall behind him.

"We have things to do." She said calmly, as if nothing had happened.

"Ok, luv, but do they really require us going to bleeding Sunnydale?"

"Yes. That's where the toy box is." Spike didn't even question that. Whatever she said, it wouldn't make much sense.

"But you love Spain. We've been here for years, and you've never been bored." He said, hoping to convince her to stay in the country, or at least somewhere on this side of the Atlantic.

"You don't want to see the Slayer's kin. You betrayed them, and they're going to kill you." She sing-songed.

"Precisely why I don't fancy California." He said, making the distinction…Spike didn't want to travel to Los Angeles either.

She shook her head, as if he was the crazy one. "You're afraid. Of them. And of daddy." She read his mind.

"It's creepy when you do that, you know. Fine. We'll go back to sunny California-" There was an air of disgust in his voice as he said the last few words. "But let's get this over with." /i 

Los Angeles

Lorne walked down the steps into the lobby. He spotted Fred sitting on top on the counter, reading a magazine.

"Hey, cutie pie. Where's the rest of Angel, Inc?"

"Angel, Wesley, Cordelia, and Faith were out doing the whole 'Yay, you're out of jail' dinner thing."

"Why aren't you there with them? I've never seen you turn down food, Fredikins."

"They asked all of us to come, but we didn't know Faith that well, or, at all, and we didn't want to intrude."

"Ok, that works. But where's everyone else?"

"A little help, here!" Angel called, as Faith opened the front doors for him.

Cordelia was leaning heavily on him, holding her head in her hands. Wesley burst through the doors after them, going to her desk and getting the painkillers out of her drawer. Fred filled up a glass of water and went to where Angel had laid Cordelia down on the sofa.

" You're a saint." Cordy said faintly to Wes, as he handed her the pills, and Fred followed quickly with the water.

"She ok?" Faith asked Elena nervously. The witch had come out of the inner offices when she heard everyone come back, and Faith had gravitated towards her.

"You don't know about the visions?" Elena asked.

"No, I do. But damn…"

"Yea."

"Cordy, what did you see?" Angel asked gently.

"You're not gonna be happy…" As she told him exactly what the PTB had sent her.

"God dammit." Angel muttered, when she had finished.

"Told ya so."

Sunnydale

"I got it!" Dawn called, as the phone rang. She got up off the couch and moved to the phone in the kitchen. " 'Yello?"

"Hey Dawn. Is Willow available, by any chance?" Wesley's voice asked on the other end of the line.

"Sure, Wesley, just a second. WILLOW!" She screamed, without covering the mouthpiece. Wes winced and held the phone away from his ear.

"She's coming." Dawn said. "Send lots of hugs to everyone on your end."

'Won't have to' He thought. But instead, he just said, "Ok, I will. Have a good night."

Willow came on the phone. "Wesley?"

"Yes, Hello Willow. I trust everything's going well in Sunnydale?"

"Yep. Everyone's good. What's up?" She asked…Wes didn't call unless he had a reason…she didn't think 'small talk' was in his vocabulary.

"Well…Cordelia had a vision." He paused while he waited for her to ask 'What?' But she didn't…. he assumed she'd been told about Cordy's visions by someone else. Or possibly Cordelia herself. He'd have to ask about that later.

"She saw Spike and Dru opening the Hellmouth, and insisted I call you right away."

"Never mess around with pleasantries, do ya?" She joked. "I was actually thinking about calling you guys. Dawn and Giles spotted Dru when they went out on patrol earlier tonight. I didn't know if it was serious or not, but they did hear Dru say something about 'the toy box…' guess she was talkin' about the Hellmouth." Willow thought for a moment. "But it had to have been a big deal, if Cordy thought we needed to know….did she see Drusilla actually get it open?"

"Yes, I believe so."

"Well, can I talk to her? Maybe Cordelia forgot something."

"Sorry, she's resting." Wes said.

"Oh…are the visions still taking a lot out of her?" Willow asked, concerned.

"She's been doing better, but its still hard. I'll let her know you asked. Or, you can ask her yourself."

"What?" Willow was confused. "I thought you said she was resting…"

"Well, she is. But I haven't gotten to the best part. What's Cordelia famous for?"

Willow ticked off things. "Her tactless wit. Her status as Ice Queen of Sunnydale High. Her shoe collection. Her-"

"No. Maybe I should rephrase that."

"Please, and thank you."

"She's set her mind to coming up there and making sure everything's alright. And staying until….how did she put it? 'We've ran their skanky vampire asses out of town."

"How very Valley-Girl-Western of her." Willow sighed. "When are you all planning on coming?"

"Well, she was ready to leave as soon as she'd packed enough clothing, but Angel convinced her to wait until tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?"

"Yes. I'm terribly sorry its such short notice, but.."

"No, its ok. We just need to get Xander prepared."

"What? Why?"

"Um, so he doesn't kill Angel and/or get into a bitching match with Cordelia? Really, either one of those is an acceptable scenario." Willow pointed out.

"Oh. Quite right."

Willow heard someone screaming on Wesley's end. "Is everything ok?"

She was fairly certain he was cleaning his glasses as he paused. Wes sighed before he answered. "I believe so…just another shouting match, nothing unusual."

Willow laughed…it was all she could think to do. Her brain was a little overloaded at the moment. "How many of you guys can we expect?" She asked, bracing herself for his response.

"Well, me, of course. Cordy and Angel will both insist on coming, and Elena will probably tag along too. Oh…..andfaith." He mumbled the last part so quickly, Willow figured she hadn't heard him right.

"Sorry, missed that last bit. What'd you say?"

"And Faith."

"Oh. Heh. This is gonna be a barrel of monkeys." Willow rubbed her temples as she hung the phone up.

"Hey, Dawnie?" She called. "Make some room, we're gonna have some company."


	4. Chapter 3

Sunnydale, the next night

"I still don't understand why I have to be here." Angel tugged nervously on the collar of his leather jacket.

Cordelia sighed heavily from the passenger seat of the car. "Because I said so. Stop fighting me, I'm sooo not in the mood" She rubbed her temples and glared at Angel out of the corner of her eye.

Faith, Elena, and Wesley were sitting in the backseat of Angel's convertible. They'd been watching the bickering between Cordy and Angel since they'd left LA a few hours ago. Now they were turning onto Revello Drive, and they still hadn't shut up.

"Guys?" Faith spoke up. "We're almost here." She pointed down the street to the Summers house.

"I know where it is." Angel snapped.

Faith sat back in her seat, holding her hands up. "Hey. Chill. I come in peace."

"Yea, I know. Sorry." Angel said, but he still sounded angry. They had left for Sunnydale as soon as it had gotten dark, and Angel had been on edge ever since. He hadn't planned on going back there…ever. Too many memories.

He pulled into the driveway and got out of the car, going to the back to get their overnight bags. Wesley went back to help him, and the girls headed for the front door.

"Anything yet?" Dawn asked Willow.

"Nope. I still can't get ahold of 'em." She hung up the phone. "I'm sure everything's ok, I just want to let Anya and Tara know what's going on."

The front door opened, and they heard Cordelia's voice. "Hey, anyone home?"

"We'll try it again later." Dawn said. "Right now, one crisis at a time. Where's Xander?" She asked worriedly. He had been less than excited to hear about the impending visitors.

"Good question. He's probably hiding out upstairs. Which, maybe a good thing."

Giles, who had been sitting in the living room reading, got up when he heard Cordelia. He went to meet her as she breezed through the doorway. "Hello, Cordelia."

"Giles!" She said, hugging him. "You look…. exactly the same."

He had known Cordelia long enough not to take it personally.

Willow and Dawn entered the room at the same time as Angel, Wes, Elena, and Faith. Introductions were presented when needed, and greetings were exchanged.

"Check it out!" Willow said jokingly. "Wesley lost the suit and tie! My world means nothing now..." She feigned sadness, and he smiled slightly.

"Yes, Willow, sarcasm still becomes you." She grinned and hugged him.

"Darn tootin'. Hey, who's that?" She asked, gesturing towards the only stranger in the room, who was in the middle of a conversation with Faith. The woman was practically radiating power.

"Oh, that's Elena. She's quite a powerful witch. Although...her attitude rivals Cordelia on a bad day." He didn't sound to depressed about it though, and Will smiled knowingly.

"Look at you..." Angel said, smiling, as he hugged Dawn tightly. "You're all grown up. You look so much like your mother..."

"Yea, he's right. Someone taught you how to moisturize, and it certainly wasn't these guys." Cordy said by way of 'hello'. She looked around the room and noticed a person missing. "Speaking of hopeless, where's Xander?"

"Still the first person you think about. I'm flattered." He walked down the steps and wrapped an arm around her waist and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

"Deadboy." He acknowledged, nodding in Angel's direction. The vampire seethed, and Xander decided that maybe things weren't going to be so bad, especially if he still had the power to piss off Angel.

"And you're totally delusional. Some things never change." Cordelia rolled her eyes, but didn't move his arm off of her. It was nice for things to be like they were before...of course, it could never be the same.

But being this house, with her old friends, made a convincing illusion. There was a person who was absent though, and everyone in the room felt her presence missing, espeically Angel.

"Come on guys." Willow said, getting comfortable on the sofa. "We need a plan."

Everyone agreed and settled down around the room, working on a strategy to kill Spike and Dru, and figuring out what they would do if the vampires managed to get the Hellmouth open.

i Sunnydale, 2002 /i 

Spike stood over Buffy's grave. She'd only been in the ground for two years, but to him, it felt like over a century.

"I've been trying, Buffy. I have." He started, talking more to the headstone than to anything else. He just hoped that wherever she was, she could hear him. "Been takin' care of the Nibblet, making sure she doesn't get into any kind of trouble."

He sighed and fell into a sitting position at the foot of her grave. "I've gone patrolling every night, just like you would have wanted. Must've killed a million baddies by now. Figured you might be happy about that."

"But it's getting harder. I stayed good for you. And I'm not about to kid myself...you're not here anymore. Never gonna be. And now I can't control it as easy, Buffy. I just wanted you to know...to forgive me. I can't last much longer on the white hat's side without you here."

He didn't tell her about how he'd seen Drusilla earlier that night, about how she'd done some mystical whammy to make his chip go dormant. And how he was planning on meeting her after he was done here.

Spike hadn't killed anyone yet, but he knew, deep down, that it was only a matter of time. And he hated himself for it...but that didn't change facts.

"I'm not strong." He explained, both to the dead Slayer and to himself.

He couldn't stand looking at the gravestone anymore...the inscription was mocking him, the words there for the sole purpose of reminding him what he'd lost, and never even had to begin with.

Spike pushed himself up again and started walking away. He only turned back once, gazing at the grass and the flowers that always seemed to be there, no matter what. He thought idly about who who would send flowers every week for over two years, as his attention turned to the carving in the stone above the roses.

"Buffy Anne Summers...." He read out loud. "Goodbye, luv." He left the cemetery and went towards the old mansion without looking back again, wishing she was there to stop him.

2010

"Almost ready..." Dru looked at the ruins of the high school, anticipation heavy in her voice.

"How soon?" Spike asked, stopping the car in front of the building. They both got out, but he leaned against the driver side door instead of following her towards where the Hellmouth still lay.

"Tonight." She sang gleefully, her chilling voice carrying over the distance between them.

Involuntarily, Spike shivered.


	5. Chapter 4

Author's note: I know. I tried to edit the font in the last chapters, but I just messed lotsa stuff up. so until i'm moved to change things, where it says 'i' before a word? yea, the stuff after it's supposed to be in italics. Sorry bout that kids.

AHW

After what felt like a year of research, they thought they had everything they needed. The two witches had some spells as back up, and the fighters and the strategists had, well...stragies. By now they were up to figuring out exactly who would do what, when.

"We'll leave in half an hour. First do a quick sweep of the cemetery-"

"Rewind, Glinda." Cordelia interrupted Willow. "In my vision, we were too late. Swinging by good 'ol Shady Hill looks good on paper, but it's not going to help."

Willow considered this for a minute. She'd sort of become the leader of the Scoobs after Buffy's death, and wasn't used to having her judgement questioned by anyone other than Giles.

"Ok, Cordelia. Then where do you suggest we go first?"

"The High School...its not like it's my favorite place in the whole wide world, but there won't be any world if we don't head there right away. So, lets go there."

Willow looked at Angel, who shrugged. Looks like they were going to listen to Cordy.

"Everyone, grab some weapons. Shoot to kill...Spike used to be one of us, but he's not anymore. If we could finally take care of Drusilla, that would be good. She's just going to keep trying to destroy the world if we don't destroy her first." Angel said, stepping up to the plate along with Willow and Cordelia...it seemed like their groups never had enough leaders.

They headed out together, in one big groups. Teams would have been ideal, but Cordelia was right...they just didn't have the time. Everyone; Willow, Dawn, Giles, Faith, Angel, Cordelia, Xander, Wesley, and Elena went to the high school, in the hopes of saving the world...

again.

And, already at the school....

Spike watched as Dru danced in circles among the debris in the old library. He couldn't believe he'd been talked into this. He knew he was whipped, but come on. this was crazy.

'but still, not as crazy as my girl.' Spike thought idly, watching her twirl happily.

Everything was going as planned, at least, as far as he knew. The handful of dark wizards they'd recuirted for the cause were busy chanting something in a language Spike really didn't care to learn. He'd slowly found out more about the ritual, as Drusilla had her clear moments. Apparently today was some big holy evil day, and there was an aligned something or other. (Ok, so he hadn't really been paying that close attention). Point was, they could get the hellmouth opened tonight, at it would be easy.

"Ok, now, lets get this show on the road." He proclaimed, as the wizards stopped with their muttering. They turned to look at him and nodded, one of them getting up to speak to him.

"Everything is in place."

Everyone walked together to the old, decrept building. Most of the large group got along, and were making nervous conversation as they marched. The only person who didn't seem bothered by the thought of what could happen soon was Faith, who looked happy as a clam, leading the pack.

Cordelia and Xander were lightheartedly bickering back and forth, making fun of each other's clothing, shoes, and chosen career paths. They had both grown up a lot in the last years, and seemed to be genuinely enjoying the other one's presence.

"Did you read the volumes of Charlton?" Willow asked Elena excitedly. It had been a while since she'd met another witch, and she was curious about what the woman knew.

Elena laughed and shook her head. "I'm not big on reading...can't sit still long enough to research." She explained. That was certainly true...while the others had been sifting through books, looking up spells and such, she was always pacing and trying to keep busy.

Willow looked over to Wesley, who was walking next to Elena on her other side. He nodded his affermation quickly, but Willow had caught him looking at the other woman.

She turned to Dawn to hide a grin. "Wesley has a crush." She whispered to her in a sing song voice. Dawn barely stifled a laugh too, and they got their composer back before joining in any conversations again.

Angel hung somewhere in between Faith and the rest of the group, doing what he usually does....brood. Being back here had brought back a flood of memories he wasn't prepared for. Just over there, on the left, was her favorite store. And past that was the street his old apartment used to be on, before the building was knocked down in favor of Sunnydale's first Starbucks.

And, as they rounded the corner, the former Sunnydale High School came into view. That finally broke him from his thoughts, and he turned around to face the group.

"Ok, this is it. Everyone has a job, everyone knows what their's is. Lets go in, get this over with, and stay alive."

And with that, the shortest pep talk ever, they advanced on the old main entrance. Faith pushed back a few boards, and they were inside.

Inside the High School

The place had many memories for most of them. Some happy, some not.

A smile passed Willow's lips as she saw her old Computer Science classroom, but the same smile was quickly gone when she thought of Jenny Calendar.

Giles thought briefly of the library, of course. Not one time or one thought, specifically. Just the room, which had been the safe haven for the small group of students he had come to regard as his family.

Angel thought of Jenny Calendar also. How he had chased her through the school, and finally killed her before she could even get out of the building.

Cordelia sighed as she remembered how she ruled the school, and how Xander had been her downfall. He was still walking beside her now, and she turned and smacked him upside the head, channeling old high-school-Cordy.

And they all thought of Buffy.

"Ok, this is it." Faith said quietly, pausing before the doors leading into the library.

Everyone stood there for a moment, not sure if something should be said. Finally, Angel walked past her and pushed the doors open, dropping down into the space directedly in front of Spike.

"You know, this is a new level of stupid. Even for you." He commented, swinging his favorite sword in front of him lazily.

The others filed in, raising weapons in preperation for the small army of vampires and baddies they expected to be assisting Spike and Dru.


End file.
